Robert Rodriguez wants to make a live action “Fire and Ice”

Remember “Fire and Ice,” the 1983 animated fantasy film that combined the talents of animator Ralph “the animated 1977 ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie” Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, the most awesome artist of heroic fantasy and science fiction who ever lived?

A poster for the 1983 film “Fire and Ice”

It’s cool if you don’t. Even with the Conan-mania it was playing off of, “Fire and Ice” tanked at the box office, grossing less than $1 million, and remains a cult film at best.

It had an interesting pedigree though, with a screenplay by former “Conan” comic book writers Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. It also used a lot of rotoscoping (which involves tracing live-action performances onto animation cels and gave the film a very specific, surreally fluid look).

Robert Rodriguez has been interested in the property for years and has teamed up with Bold Films and Sony to keep developing a live-action version, deadline.com has reported. Rodriguez is a longtime friend and fan of the late Frazetta. If successful, it’s exactly the sort of film that could launch a new fantasy franchise.

In other Rodriguez news, the El Rey series “The Matador,” produced by University of Texas graduate Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, has been canceled after one season; “From Dusk Till Dawn” is working on its second; and “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” is now on Blu-ray and DVD after grossing a let’s-call-it-modest $39 million worldwide.